What a scandal

Whooo the exhibition  for Scandelabra is in a weeks time! The excitement is building, d  and as I'm co organiser,  I'm getting all the invites out.   Lisa the artist under her brand OXOLOCO,  has helped me in the past with  my graphics, banners, labels you name it, she did it!,  is working like Trojan to get the pieces ready for ... you'll love this date, Friday the 13th. Heh Heh, Lisa picked it purposely as she feels it's a lucky day.

Trying to get some  work in progress images from Lisa, was bit tricky but I managed to rile her up enough to send me a few! He He.  Do you remember the green Celadon tea pot I gave her to use as part of her artwork? ( I posted in my last blog)   Well I spotted it in her work shop (sneaky me!)

Can you spot the teapot....

 It's such a joyful feeling to see creativity take shape, especially if you're contributed, in a very minute way, towards it. Lisa told me she paired my Celadon tea pot with her mothers vintage Noritake saucer.  The story behind it was that her father had bought it for her mother when they first got married, but the entire set was stolen when they put the set into storage whilst having their house built, except for that one piece, how odd eh.

The noritake saucer that was left behind!

So can you imagine the stories behind each lamp?  I imagine owning such a lamp would be quite the centrepiece of some interesting conversation! 

She's also been working on the lamp shades, and they range from lace to little chi chi pom poms like this one 

You know you're going to touch the pom pom!

I'm still trying to imagine how Lisa will stage the area we've been so kindly given by the owner of Ziba carpets, but dressing areas is her forte and I'm sure it will look exactly the way she wants in order to highlight these beautiful upcycled pieces of functional art.  

For those of you who want to come join us, it's going to be at Ziba, the addy is 26G, 26-1 & 26-2, Jalan Telawi  2, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur, between 3 and 9 pm.   Here's the link for  Ziba directions

For those of you who can't make it, we're going to be staging a few more little pop up exhibitions around Malaysia, so stay tuned for that on my blog.  I'll leave you with a tantalising image of one of her finished pieces.   For those of you attending, see you on Friday.  Thank you again for subscribing to my blog and hey I do post vlogs up from time to time on you tube, so check those out too.  Happy Weekend!

Scandelabra Blue

Just a little Spice bebeh

Let me tell you a little story, no it's not a terribly long one, just a little one, promise...  it's about food, oooo my favourite topic!  Ok ok quick background, I grew up in  and around Hong Kong, as my step dad was a Chef in the hotel industry, and because of this we moved around a lot.  I learned to eat all sorts of strange and wonderful types of food.  So once in a while I get a bit nostalgic and want some of the more exotic stuff that I enjoyed in the Orient, and one of those little mouthwatering morsels are century eggs with pickled ginger,

in case you've not seen it, here's a pic.  Now I know it looks like a 'goth egg!', but it's actually quite delicious.

Also known as preserved egg,

They are made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, quicklime and rice hulls for several weeks to several months.

As an hors d'oeuvre, the Cantonese wrap chunks of this egg in pickled ginger

Finding the century eggs here in Kuala Lumpur is easy enough.  Most supermarkets sell them as well as the wet market, but finding the pickled ginger... well that's how this journey begins!  Talk about a needle in a haystack.  I searched most the main stores for pickled ginger, and couldn't find any.  I was really stumped, we use pickled ginger for a lot of our food, well this one in particular : 

Pickled ginger otherwise known as Sushi Gari

Off I went to the Japanese grocers.  They did have some kind of pink ginger pickle but I couldn't read the ingredients (obviously I can't  read and write Japanese! but I can curse, long story,  but that's beside the point!). 

I mentioned this to my girlfriend, well when I say mentioned what I really meant was to grumble and moan about the lack of pickled ginger.  My galpal said, "Daph, most people either buy from a friend or make it at home".  Well talk about a light bulb moment!   I decided to make a batch for myself. 

First, I researched the best type of pickling ingredients and started off with normal ginger root. When you pickle old ginger root its very yellow and is pretty hot! yawsaahh, old ginger root, ...fail.  Next, I wanted a crunch but a light delicate ginger heat, so I  tried fresh young root ginger, it turned out pink!

Fresh younger ginger from the markets

Then I tested it on my friends and family, hey that's what they're for!,  and the feedback was good, so much so that my little Faerie Lisa suggested I retail it along with my signature chilli sauce I make which includes these ingredients :

Fire Engine Red Chillies

Garlic bursting with flavour

Taking my own advise, I've started a small home business retailing these  home made condiments, yes I've got a label too thanks to OXOLOCO. It was an exciting process, including sourcing all the materials!

Many thanks to OXOLOCO for designing my label.

I've now rolled out my first batch of both and taking orders! Both condiments contain no colouring or preservatives, the ginger naturally turns blush pink in the pickling marinade.  You can pop your orders on e mail,  that's, daphnenasir@gmail.com or pm me on Facebook!

My ©Cha Cha Chili Sauce ready to be labelled

©Tickled Pink Ginger anyone? 

I can't wait for my labels to be ready, they're in print as we speak.  It feels very satisfying because whatever the outcome, this venture fulfills two things, a creative outlet that allows me to utilise my home again as a workspace, and to make good quality products that everyone can enjoy.

Cheers and have a lovely week ahead! 

Speedy Gonzales

My daughter Leilani stays calm in traffic by taking selfies!

Yet another day goes by,  and yet again I'm gesticulating in traffic, or swearing at the person who just cut me up/tail-gated me/ didn't indicate, you've been there, you know what I mean (my kids certainly do, they tell me I'm Jekyll and Hyde in the car!).  You get home or to your destination totally frazzled and either grumble about it for a bit or  have to take a few moments to calm down.   I usually wonder to myself "what's the rush?"  Will being two cars ahead get you to your destination faster?  Are you that late that you have to drive like a maniac?

Idiot driver on wrong side of the road trying to muscle in with school KIDS onboard!

There's traffic even in Marseille, but at least the view's great!

But then this attitude is not only  relegated to when ones drives, it's with everything you do in life. For example, when I started my first TV show, man I was pushing and pushing and knocking on the doors of everyone and everything.  I had to get the show out, it was do or die, now or never, what if TOMORROW never comes!!! I pushed so hard I got my sponsor on board within a month, and just like that, even after signing the contracts they pulled out!... just as we were going into pre production. Fast forward two years from that after a really bad bout of depression, a couple of very shitty jobs and 3 lawsuits, I thought well this is it isn't it, I can't go any further down.  I remember  venting to my close friends, they said "what's stopping you from doing your show now?" , "we'd love to help you".   It's incredible how faith, luck, timing and some incredible partners can change everything.  5 months to the day they said it, we had "the Art of living show" on Air.  It is all about timing, which brings me to my point.   I rushed around like a blue arsed fly and it all blew up in my face.  You can not see all the outside forces that are influencing those moments, and sometimes when you push too hard, it pushes back.  Plus my sponsors this time round were so supportive and just the best sort you could hope for.  (Yes mum, patience is a virtue )

I've got my second TV show ready, but this time I'm not rushing around, I'm being methodical, taking my time, allowing the natural order of timelines to flow so it can and will be taken up by the right people with the right attitude for the show.  I'm not saying sit back and let it all fall into your lap, ha ha ha , it that was true, I'm sure we'd all be sitting at home watching the idiot box and waiting for the phone to ring!  I'm saying it's just like fishing, you have to put all your lines in the water, be patient and when you get a bite, reel it in patiently or it will get away if you rush the process.  (Who would have thought I'd use a fishing metaphor, thank you to Xtreme Fishing!)

My wonderful friend Reza who let us use his Shop

Here's another example, (err not a fishing one ok)  I've known Lisa for years, we've met irregularly at best,  but last year everything clicked between us, friendship wise, work wise, creatively(the timing was right).   We've been slowly building towards working on several creative projects together, and individually.  One of them is for her exhibition of up cycled lamps.  I must admit I was pushing for her to have her exhibition sooner, I felt it would be beneficial to get it out faster, get the word out and push her a  little harder.  We worked out the timelines and got to looking for exhibition spaces.  But you see, yet again the timing wasn't right, pieces were delayed,  the space we agreed on wasn't what she really wanted in the end.  So leaving all that aside, I carried on with some of my other ventures and whilst having a couple of hours to kill I decided to visit an ol friend who owned a shop in one of the prime locations of the 'golden triangle' in Kuala lumpur.  As we chatted over lunch together I told him about what I was doing and how were were looking for space for the exhibition and needed sponsors as well, and just like that, he offered his place... timing yet again is everything.

She was taking pictures of the place but the cat insisted on posing!

My Celadon pot that will be used for Lisa's work!

I brought Lisa for a visit the following week and she absolutely loved it!  It was perfect for her.  This time we did delay the timing for the exhibition further into the next month where she felt most comfortable and what suited the owner of the shop as well.   Yet again here is an example of not rushing, of taking the time to plan and organise, of fate, of luck.   Now that we've got the dates locked down for Friday 13th of May! (great date)  we'll create a FB page to extend an invitation to you to come see these beautiful upcycled lamps that Lisa has called "Scandelabra" .  Stay tuned for more info on that

 I guess as we get older as well,  one begins to wonder why?  Why are we rushing around?  Is the world really going to come crashing down on our shoulders if we slowed down?  Why are you working at break neck speed setting aside what you really want to do, and sometimes all you want to do is earn a decent living doing what you enjoy and spending time with the ones you love.  We've lost the ability to "stop and smell the roses.   So what I say to you is this, take a deep breath, slow that pace down a tad and look up... what do you see?

I see you !

Throwing down the gauntlet

Blay watching the Polar Bear on Telly

I was vegging out in front of the idiot box the other day and as I'm a big wild life/ below zero /extreme fishing fan, naturally a program about polar bears had caught my attention.  Heey! they may be the most dangerous carnivores on this earth but they're still the cutest! But that's not my point, stop distracting me!  My cat Blay, whom my son an I had found as a kitten in the car park, took one look at the Polar Bear on the screen and went straight into hunt mode.  I giggled to myself thinking "yup a little 5 pound kitty against a 300 lb bear, that's about fair... (well in Blay's head)  as my little "happy " cat sailed through the air from the couch to land in front of the telly. She then proceeded to watch the show too!

So as the documentary played on, the host of the show was waiting for the mother bear to leave her den with the cubs and move on  to a different part of the vast snow filled islands to find food as she had been in hibernation for 6 months. Thinking she was just taking the cubs out for some fresh air just like  days past, he realised she was actually leaving as she just kept walking on... and though she looked back a couple of times that was it. They just moved on.   I thought to myself, humans very rarely if ever just pick up and go.  We have so much baggage or "things" that we have to bring with us that it takes time, emotional preparation, money and organisation to do so. 

My daughter Leilani picking up and going (as far as the beach.. heh)

More pondering, the slow turning of the rusty wheels in my brain could almost be heard as I had  just been introduced to Claire Sancelot who headed the Zero Waste Movement in Hong Kong.  She had recently moved to Malaysia with her family and was trying to find her feet here.   Meeting her only reinforced my mind set of how I was living my life.  I try to recycle as much as I can, organise the meals so food waste is minimal (well when you have two teenagers in the house, there is NO SUCH THING AS LEFTOVERS!!) 

I know even though the ministry here is saying we as a nation have to start recycling NOW, they've  pushed the deadlines for implementation because the nation were (are ?) not "ready".  These are among the public responses received recently when asked on their preparedness in the implementation of the Act and I quote from www.therakyatpost.com   

• “What is waste separation? I know nothing about the Act being implemented in September”. (2015)
• “Is it true that action will be taken on home and business owners if they don’t separate the waste? It feels like a burden”.
• “Why there has not been any news on this new regulation? I have no qualms about following the new rule as recycling is already practised in my household”.     

                          This is a Fab Video from The Plastic Coalition. 

I guess for some of us, it's easy peasy, it's something you do without thinking, but for those who still feel a bit in the dark, I've asked Claire to give me her thoughts on Zero Waste here in Malaysia.   She says  "start by refusing small items like plastic bag, straw, bottles..., carry your reusable bag, refillable water bottles.  Little changes go a long way.  We have only one planet and it cannot be recycled and right now we are destroying our living environment.   Free yourself from things, its is extremely liberating.  Happiness does not come from things"    She also quoted that clothes are the second largest polluter to  Our environment  (Ladies stop rolling your eyeballs, and men this is not the reason to continue to wear that horrible 5 O shirt OK?)   For those of you who are interested in reading more about Zero Waste, Clair has a page on Face Book ZERO WASTE KUALA LUMPUR  

Now one of my pet dislikes are the styrofoam containers we're constantly given by vendors for take away or *tapow* as we do here in Asia, so like our forefathers who were actually more eco friendly, I've gotten ahold of a tiffin carrier, especially for take away food. 

I got mine from Alibaba express

These Beauties are from India

I got this for my dad from Thailand

So I challenge you to do the same, I've also got a Facebook Page called Daph's Caf , do post your pics of your tiffin carriers there... if you dare :-p

Have a lovely week ahead. 

Mini Road Trip

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A while back when I was experimenting with a product for our new business venture, Lisa the little faerie who designs my blog, mentioned a place that her mother recommended to buy the organic version.  So finally this weekend we went on a mini road trip to place called Janda Baik which is about an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur.

We zipped along in her little Swift and had to double back a few times as we couldn't find the turnings, on one of them we were actually only a hundred meters away from our destination but had turned back as it looked as if it was heading towards a dead end.  So after stopping to pick up some of the roasted chestnuts they sell along the way and checking with Lisa's mum again, we finally made it there!

The road was lined with vendors selling fresh produce, but I could not find what I was looking for. However I did stumble upon this

RED BANANAS!!

I picked up a bunch of these exotic red bananas to bring home for the kids to try,  as Lisa had never tried one she decided to eat one there and then!  I watched her face as she took a bite, she turned and looked at me "it's not bad, a bit tart and soft in the middle" she exclaimed.  Cool bananas! She also said they would taste perfect for "Pengat Pisang" which is bananas boiled in coconut milk So then we moseyed on further and I came across this beautiful red number

ROSELLA

We've all seen the Rosella syrup and teas but here it was fresh and abundant.  So I got myself half a kilo of this vitamin c packed wonder ruby and managed to slip in a few packets of their fresh veg. Though I didn't get what I  originally came for, I found something I could experiment on!

So back at the cave, I decided to do my "double double toil and trouble, fire burn and caldron bubble".  I first made the Rosella drink , by boiling and steeping the flowers 

It doesn't take long to boil and what a great colour!

Straining the flowers, and it's ready to drink,  you can add sugar or honey to sweeten it

I also made some Rosella Jam!  (errrr needed some form of creative outlet!)  Well the great thing is I've created a tasty jam and we've now found someone who produces what I've been looking for, which means another Road TRIP!!! wheeeeee

My home made Rosella Jam and Drink! Cheers!

Thanks for taking the time to read this and have a great week ahead!

Living young!

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Wow it's so hot that even if I said "it's hotter than Satan's arse!" most people would nod and say "figures"!  We've been sweltering in the mid 30's to 40 degrees lately.  Putting on make up is pointless, it slides of 15 mins later if you're outside!  

I've been recuperating after having had a bout of Shingles.  Yes, even I was like "wha?!" when the doctor diagnosed me.  What she failed to tell me  after she dispensed the antivirals, pain killers and creams, was how painful it would be!  Geezz at least with child birth, it's over within a few hours.  This goes on and on.  Anyway the reason why I'm telling you all  this is twofold.  The first is a small segue to apologise for no vlogs!  and the second is how I was introduced to yet another product that can help you and those around you as well as  supplement your income. 

It all started this way " hey babe,  shingles,? let me see if there is an oil to help recover faster"  my friend Riz messages me after I've told her about my situation.  Oils?  what on earth is she looking for oils for me?  I'm already taking evening primrose oil, fish oil, avocado oil etc so I was a bit confused.  So I asked her, "errr what oils?"

Young Living Oils

She meant essential oils!  AAAaaaahhhhh , penny finally dropped!  I'm no stranger to essential oils, in fact I usually have lavender in my house, it helps with bruising and tee tree oil which is also used topically as a local antiseptic plus essential oils smell great.... most times!   I'm sure a lot of you would have them in your diffusers as well.  

Riz informes me that they were having an "Oily Party".. ooo eerrr Missus I thought.  No! not that type of party ! It was to meet up with people who had incorporated these products into their lives.  

The one thing I realised when I met up with the "Witches" of Oil as they liked to call themselves, at the Oily Party,  was that they were so warm and welcoming and there was a general atmosphere of support, caring and a lot of sharing. Each person told her story of how she or he had a specific ailment and how they had tried the oils and how the oils worked for them individually, for their children and the entire family. They even celebrate birthdays together!

Azah's surprise birthday cake

The cake was in the shape of
an essential oil bottle!

I love the holistic approach to healing here, I've always preferred to go with alternative methods of medication which is why I use Ayurveda and acupuncture treatments (My Acupuncturist also uses Young Living Oils I found out!) 

I asked a few ladies for their thoughts on Young Living essential oils and Sarini, the lady who led the "Oily Party"  had this to say about the products :

"Young living therapeutic grade essential oils are a wonderful and effective, holistic way to a healthy life full of wellness and abundance. I love that it has enabled my loved ones and I to live a lifestyle where all our body systems are connected to and supported by nature, so we can truly live a life of vigour and vitality! " 

 To know more: +6012 3232 117, sarini.bujang@gmail.com , Young Living member ID: 2923956

"It's been a magical, almost surreal journey for my family and I ever since we started immersing ourselves with the use of YLEOs in our daily lives. Our overall health and immune systems have improved so much in the past year that my kids have less visits to the doctor's now and my special needs child especially benefited from using YLEOs to help support her and improve her condition. I am happy to share my enthusiasm and love of the oils in order to help others gain a healthier and more wholesome lifestyle."

Doing further research, I've found that two huge celebs also use these products as well :

Gwyneth Paltrow

Jessica Alba - here's the LINK

Riz also passed me her mixture of oils for me to use on for my Shingles which I've been using everyday since.  Love the smell and feeling better for it.  For more information on Young Living you can contact Sarini or have a look at this link YOUNG LIVING US

I hope this smells right! heh heh and I'll catch up with you next week,keep the e mails coming in and again, thank you for your subscription. 

The last word

I've been under the weather lately, a really bad viral attack had me home bound for a couple of weeks and slowly the pain in receding. So while I had time on my hands I went through the admin side of the social media sites and that's checking the comments, responding to them, tidying up the written content , you know what I mean! It's a virtual way of cleaning house without the physical side of it!!

I came across a couple of negative remarks and comments on my social media platforms, some from friends and some from strangers.  So I thought to myself how do other people deal with negativism ?  ~"the practice of being or tendency to be negative or skeptical in attitude while failing to offer positive suggestions or views.".
We're no stranger to this, you could be a student, or climbing up the corporate ladder, a housewife, a multimillionaire and everyone bar none will have experienced this.  The funny thing about us human beings is that we could receive 20 wonderful comments about our work/product/result and get 1 negative one, and which one do you remember?  The negative one!  ( this is the link for 7 strategies for Dealing with Negative People )

Sometimes it's better to switch off!

When we  were on radio  I swear my former CEO said " just remember there are a lot Psychos out there, don't take anything personally!".   We had our share of  irate callers believe me,  and some did attack  us personally. We were advised not to engage if it was personal and just report the call .  Same with being on Television, when the comments were constructive,  we'd write back and if they were negative we'd just delete it and let it go.

Yah, I was like "OMG"!

If you really think about it, not everyone is going to like what you do and or even you personally, that's part of the tapistry of life, so many different types of people, likes and dislikes are so diverse, and there's bound to be people who won't get on.  Here's the link  How to deal with negative comments on social media

Well for me I break it down into two categories, constructive criticism and personal attacks.  I've learned to not react immediately, I take a deep breath and step back, think about it and if it's worth my effort , to respond diplomatically,  and if it's just utter tripe.... I just let it go and chalk it down to "pot shots from the cheap seats"!  (see even you smiled)  or I call my bestie  and have a rant, get  it out of my system and carry on.  There is more to life than allowing negative thoughts and words from others to impact you and your lifestyle,  like that sale you just signed off on, or the new app you designed or the dinner party you're throwing , you get my drift.  So sally forth, and let the positive rule the way!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and for subscribing to my vlogs, much appreciated!